There is a wealth of academic research that suggests that differences in risk appetite are at the heart of differences in career and business trajectories. We wanted to go beyond the theory and ask real people from the community about their perspectives and experiences with risk and risk taking.

Gabriel de Leon | Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist & Performer

Risk is an almost immeasurable factor. There are so many aspects of risk to consider and it is so unique to every individual, and I’ve had to learn that through failures of taking risk. I believe that the kinds of risk that I have taken throughout my life and toughen me up, to understand my limits and boundaries, as well as gauge my expectations. My belief is that nobody can tell you what risks you are supposed to take – nobody knows anybody else’s circumstances and though it may seem simple to take a leap of faith for some, certain conditions might make it unmanageable for others. Read more>>

Mandy Wilde | Medium & Astrologer

Risk has played an important factor in most of what I’ve done in my life and career. As a matter of fact, what led me to my current position was leaving a career of over a decade where I made a good living and swapped it to work for myself! It took 2 tries to take the leap to leave the stability and comfortability of a steady paycheck and now I can honestly say, I couldn’t be more happy. Read more>>

Anthony L Fernandez | Actor

I am a risk taker. I have been my entire life. Whether by nature or condition, the common denominator has been the ability to take life risking leaps of faith from the cliff, hoping that my wings would spread and I would soar like an eagle, or at the very least, I wouldn’t “die” from the fall. I grew up poor. Sometimes stable other times, not so much. We always had friends and family that would open up their homes, but that never lasted long. Read more>>

Lindsay Goodstein | Founder & CEO

I believe that the greatest things that happen on the opposite side of fear. Before I started Alice, I worked a very comfortable, but not rewarding, job. It wasn’t until I stepped out of my comfort zone, released the golden handcuffs of my steady paycheck, and took the risk of following my passion that I found more success than I could ever have achieved as another employee working for a large corporation. I believe that being uncomfortable puts the right amount of fire under my ass to make things happen. Read more>>

Ya K | Artist & Model

I love taking risks! Big risks bring great rewards and I’m never afraid to learn a lesson; like Steve Harvey said it only takes one hit. People don’t remember you for the misses; the story is only told and glorified for the hits. Professional baseball players get million dollar contracts for hitting 3/10 times and that’s elite on a top tier level. Steph Curry didn’t break his record by making every 3 pointer he attempted. Perfection doesn’t exist in reality. Read more>>

Lisa Braithwaite | Public Speaking Coach, Trainer and Author

Being an entrepreneur is inherently risky, and before I started my own business, I had started a nonprofit. But here’s the thing about risk for me: It takes a LOT to embarrass me. I’m not afraid of looking foolish, like many people are. And my superpower is recovering from mistakes and mishaps. So I think I’m genetically primed to take risks without a lot of fear (at least in business – you will NEVER see me jumping out of a plane). Read more>>

Nina Hirten | Film/TV Editor, Director and Songwriter

I’ve always been a risk taker, I think – There was a point where I realized that nothing that I wanted to happen would just happen without my taking some steps towards making it happen, and once you do that successfully a few times it becomes easier until it’s normal. Read more>>

TDO Von-T | Music Artist/ Business Owner/Activist/Actor

When I think of risk, I think of the service I provided for this country in the Army. I fought proudly for our country during my deployment to Iraq and represented the Army with the upmost respect throughout my career while rising in through the ranks to Captain. However, the Army didn’t think Hip-Hop, and officer mixed so they charged me and attempted to kick me out. Yea you read that right. So, I’m still willing to risk it all to expose the story even if it cost me my life to do so, as i once did for the armed service. Read more>>

Geoffrey Dicker | Artist

Taking risks can surely be scary but I’ve often found that staying stagnant has far more negative consequences. I moved to New York and Chicago with no real plan and everyone thought I was crazy. I had faith that something good would happen and lo and behlold, it always does. It would be so easy to repeat the same winning formula over and over again in my work, but I continually want to grow and challenge myself. I think that shows in the diversity of my art. Read more>>

Linda Kaye | Poet, poetry and theatrical producer & filmmaker

Life happens when you take the risk. My poem, “Life, What a Risk” says a lot about how I feel about it. “Plain and simple. Exposure. Risk of being revealed. Outed before your peers. Possibly humbled or humiliated. Life lived safely equals You represent what you can, maybe the edited version of self, the dark and sometimes the light, and give up what you can safely expose.
Bottom line, It’s all up to you to take the risk. Read more>>

Megan Berger | First Responder & Human Trafficking Survivor

Having survived human trafficking and near death experiences, I have a very tumultuous relationship with the concept of risk. I took a risk with my safety to leave my trafficker, because the risk was worth the reward of freedom. In the years after, I sought high adrenaline jobs such as doing fugitive recovery work or filming fires “up close and personal”, some may have called this reckless, especially those in my life who cared about my safety. Read more>>

Jacob Sigman | Singer/Songwriter/Producer

Risk is something that I’ve been thinking a lot more about lately. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for about 6 months now. Moving here definitely felt like a big leap of faith. I had been living in Detroit for 5 years and it really felt like home. The music scene there is eclectic and vibrant but I just didn’t know where I fit in. Then last March my friend asked me to be a featured artist on an album project he was working on in LA. Read more>>

Chris Bredesen | Entrepreneur

The risk vs reward ratio is a measure of the potential profit to potential loss for a given investment or project, I think daily about risk (and also about reward) and try to make my best educated decisions from past investments and daily life lessons I have learned. It is true that the more you risk, the more you can be rewarded, but it is also true that the more knowledge and experience you gain from past endeavors, then more you can lessen the risk but also keep the high level reward. Read more>>

Julie Hinton | Entertainer

Every project I start or gig I submit to requires some sort of risk – whether the relatively minor risk of rejection or something much larger such as finances, reputation or time. I don’t get anywhere without taking risks, but I can’t succeed when I lose the wrong risks. Throughout my life my risk capacity has fluctuated, and I think that’s as it should be. I’ve got slightly more financial stability now that allows me to take different risks than those in my early 20’s. Read more>>

Ereiyal Cartwright | EreiyalJ |Creative Designer

Every year since I’ve chased my dreams I’ve been faced with the stereotype “Sleeping your way to the top”. I received these messages from those close to me and some strangers. I tried to work it off, but a new stereotype is developed as I continue to elevate. How is it that Black women who take risks, and work their butts off still get mistreated as if they aren’t walking into their destiny? Up until the moment of me touring, I had been a full-time college student. Read more>>

Marcus Hamm | CEO of Urban Renaissance Entertainment, Filmmaker, Actor & Professional Wrestler

Everything I have done that has led to my success in the entertainment industry has come from taking risks. My journey began following a severe car accident where I was ejected from a rollover SUV, leaving me temporarily debilitated. When I recovered, my first decision was to enter the world of professional wrestling and within a year’s time, Read more>>